Endlicheria lhotzkyi (Nees) Mez
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Authority
Chanderbali, Andre S. 2004.
(Lauraceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 91: 1-141. (Published by NYBG Press) -
Family
Lauraceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Brazil. Mato Grosso: Cujaba, Nov (fl [female]), Manso & Lhotzky 84 (lectotype , designated by Kostermans, 1937: B-n.v.; isolectotypes: G-n.v., GZU-n.v.; fragments, F, NY; photos [neg. 3813 ex B], F, GH, NY).
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Synonyms
Ocotea lhotzkii Nees, Strychnodaphne lhotzkyi Meisn.
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Description
Species Description - Trees to 15 m. Branchlets slender, midway along flush 3-5 mm diam., distally weakly angular, soon terete, pubescent, the surface concealed by the indument cover, the hairs relatively long, to 0.5 mm, straight to crooked, weakly appressed to ascending, yellowish to rusty red; terminal buds plump, 4 × 5 mm, the indument as on branchlets. Leaves alternate, widely and evenly spaced along current flush; petioles slender, to 2 × 0.3 cm, semi-terete, the indument as on branchlets; laminae coriaceous, plane, ovate, 9-25 × 4-10 cm, the base obtuse to acute, briefly decurrent, the apex acute, acuminate for up to 1 cm, the margins minutely recurved throughout; upper surface dull greyish green to olive-brown, waxy, the primary to fourth-order veins raised, their prominence decreasing with rank; lower surface densely golden sericeous, the hairs as on branchlets, uniformly distributed, all vein orders raised, their prominence decreasing with rank; secondary veins 5-6 per side, ± evenly spaced, slightly more distant around midlamina, ascending at 50-60° (more obtuse around midlamina), arcuate, distal pairs loop-connected; tertiaries roughly horizontal, between secondaries forked. Staminate inflorescences evenly spaced along current flush in the axils of foliage leaves or cataphylls, to 15 cm long with 10 lateral branches, branch orders 3-4, the highest order dichasial, lax, the flowers distant, the axes densely pubescent, the indument as on branchlets; bracts and bracteoles caducous by anthesis, lanceolate, sericeous; pedicels gradually increasing in diameter apically, to 1.3 mm long, those supporting secondary flowers slightly shorter. Rowers rotate, rusty sericeous outside, the indument thinning distally; receptacle shallowly infundibuliform, 0.5 × 1 mm, densely grey-pilose inside. Tepals chartaceous, ovate, 1.3 × 0.8 mm, spreading at anthesis, the androecium exserted, the outer surface sparsely rusty sericeous, the inner surface sparsely grey-pilose near base, the margins and apex minutely papillose, otherwise, glabrous. Stamens of whorls I and II broadly stipitate, 1 mm tall, the anthers ovate, 0.5 × 0.5 mm, glabrous, the apex rounded to truncate, the connectives hardly prolonged between the 2 locelli, these suborbicular, introrse-latrorse, the filaments laminar, slightly narrower than anthers, densely grey-pilose; whorl III stamens broadly stipitate, 1 mm tall, the anthers oblong 0.5 × 0.4 mm, erect, locelli 2, extrorse-latrorse, the filaments slightly narrower than anthers, laminar, densely grey-pilose, the basal glands sessile, globose; whorl IV wanting; pistillode wanting. Pistillate inflorescence with indument, color, and branching as in staminate plants, the flowers similar in size and shape; stamens sterile, smaller; ovary glabrous; style stout, indistinct from ovary; stigma tri-lobed, 0.3 mm diam. Fruits borne on short claviform pedicels of up to 5 × 3 mm; cupules shallowly infundibuliform, 0.3 × 1 cm, glabrous inside and outside, the margins sharply lobed, tepal bases persisting; drupes ellipsoid, to 1.5 × 1 cm.
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Discussion
Unlike most members of the Endlicheria sericea species group, E. lhotzkyi maintains a vestiture of ascending rather than closely appressed hairs. These hairs provide a shaggy aspect unmistakable among the smoothly sericeous branchlets typical of vegetatively similar species. Hairs are also ascending in E. ruforamula but are more reddish in color and less than half the length found in E. lhotzkyi. Flowers of E. lhotzkyi resemble those of Antillean E. sericea in being rotate with horizontally spreading tepals, but the tepals are chartaceous rather than fleshy with inner surface indument restricted to the base and consisting of straight rather than crooked or crinkled hairs. Fruits of E. lhotzkyi are conspicuous for the shallow cupules with strongly lobed margins. Of vegetatively similar species, these cupules are matched only by the Andean E. aurea and densely sericeous forms of E. anomala, both with very different flowers. Goeppertia chrysophylla Meisn., cited in synonymy by Mez (1889) and Kostermans (1937), is an illegitimate name based on a duplicate of the type material of E. lhotzkyi deposited in DeCandolle’s herbarium, now in Geneva (G).
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Common Names
louro amarello, louro dorado, louro dourado, louro roxo
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Distribution
Small trees of gallery forests apparently restricted to the cerrado vegetation found in the states of Mato Grosso and Goiás, Brazil, at ca. 400-500 m. Flowers collected in May, June, and November, fruits from May to October.
Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America|